• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2007

Background: Postoperative pruritus following the administration of epidural narcotics is a very common and undesirable side effect. Therefore, we evaluated the use of a combination of naloxone and sufentanil via patient controlled epidural analgesia to determine if the incidence of pruritus was decreased when compared to the use of sufentanil alone. Methods: Patients scheduled for subtotal gastrectomy under general anesthesia were enrolled in a prospective, double-blinded and randomized trial. All patients received a $20{\mu}g$ epidural bolus of sufentanil in 5 ml of 0.2% ropivacaine. Following administration of the epidural, patients in the sufentanyl group (S) received a continuous epidural comprised of sufentanil ($0.75{\mu}g/ml$) in 0.2% ropivacaine, whereas patients in the naloxone group (N) received an epidural infusion comprised of naloxone ($4{\mu}g/ml$) and sufentanil ($0.75{\mu}g/ml$) in 0.2% ropivacaine. The infusion rate, demand dose and lockout interval were 5 ml/hr, 0.5 ml and 15 minutes respectively. Next, the occurrence of postoperative analgesia and side effects were evaluated by blinded observers. Results: The incidence of pruritus (47.4% versus 20.0%, P = 0.013) and nausea (42 .1 % versus 20.0%, P = 0.043) were lower in group N than in group S. In addition, there were no significant differences observed in the visual analogue scale, the incidence of vomiting or the incidence of sedation. Furthermore, epidural infusion of naloxone at $0.25-0.4{\mu}g/kg/hr$ did not affect the requirement for postoperative sufentanil. Conclusions: Epidural naloxone reduces epidural sufentanil induced pruritus and nausea without reversing its analgesic effects.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.54-59
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• 2017

Objective : Postoperative pain is one of the major complaints of patients after lumbar fusion surgery. The authors evaluated the effects of intravenous patient controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) using fentanyl or sufentanil on postoperative pain management and pain-related complications. Methods : Forty-two patients that had undergone surgery with lumbar instrumentation and fusion at single or double levels constituted the study cohort. Patients were equally and randomly allocated to a sufentanil group (group S) or a fentanyl group (group F) for patient controlled analgesia (PCA). Group S received sufentanil at a dose of $4{\mu}g/kg$ IV-PCA and group F received fentanyl $24{\mu}g/kg$ IV-PCA. A numeric rating scale (NRS) of postoperative pain was applied before surgery, and immediately and at 1, 6, and 24 hours (hrs) after surgery. Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores were obtained before surgery and one month after surgery. Opioid-related side effects were also evaluated. Results : No significant intergroup difference was observed in NRS or ODI scores at any of the above-mentioned time points. Side effects were more frequent in group F. More specifically, nausea, vomiting rates were significantly higher (p=0.04), but pruritus, hypotension, and headache rates were non-significantly different in the two groups. Conclusion : Sufentanil displayed no analgesic advantage over fentanyl postoperatively. However, sufentanil should be considerable for patients at high risk of GI issues, because it had lower postoperative nausea and vomiting rates than fentanyl.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.398-400
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• 1999

Sufentanil, a potent anilidopiperidine analgesic, was synthesized from a simple thiophenylethylamine via six sequence. The key parts of this synthesis involved an efficient construction of thiophenylethylpiperidone by aminomethano desilylation-cyclization followed by Swern oxidation and a direct regioselective N-nucleophilic spiral epoxide cleavage with aniline promoted by Lewis acids.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.297-300
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• 2014

This report describes the long term safety and efficacy of intrathecal therapy using Sufentanil for the management of chronic intractable neuropathic pain in 12 chronic pain patients. Standardized psychological screening was used to determine treatment suitability. Evaluation data included the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Wong-Baker Faces Scale, Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Disability of Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH), McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire, and complications (granulomas, toxicity, withdrawal, or deaths). SPSS version 18 was used for data analysis. Pre- and post- treatment BPI measures and pain scale scores showed a statistically significant difference. There were no complications directly related to drug toxicity, nor drug withdrawals, granulomas, or deaths. Intrathecal therapy with Sufentanil therapy offers a good treatment alternative for those cases that have failed both surgery and standard pain treatment. Strict patient selection based on psychological screening, control of co-morbidities, a proper pain management may contribute to successful outcome.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 1997

Background : Previous studies have proven beneficial in labor analgesia to use subarachnoid sufentanil(alone or with adjuvant) on parturients in early first stage of labor. We designed this prospective study to evaluate analgesic efficacy and side effects of subarachnoid sufentanil plus bupivacaine in women with cervical dilatation of 7 cm greater. Methods : This was an open-label, nonrandomized trial of 32 parturients in late first stage labor who requested labor analgesia. After signing the consent form each patient received subarachnoid sufentanil (10 ${\mu}g$) and bupivacaine (2.5 mg). Patients were asked to rate their verbal pain score (0-10 scale) before regional anesthesia and 5 minutes after subarachnoid injection, and every 20 minutes thereafter until delivery or request for additional analgesia. Blood pressure, pruritus, Bromage motor block score, mode of delivery and need for supplemental analgesics were recorded. Results : Thirty women were included in the study. Mean pain scores (mean${\pm}$SD) were $8.7{\pm}1.0$ pre-spinal, $0.7{\pm}1.5$ 5 minutes post-injection, and remained less than 5 for 130 minutes after spinal injection. Of 30 patients, 24 had unassisted vaginal delivery, 4 instrumental vaginal delivery (vacuum), and 2 cesarean delivery. Of 28 patients who delivered vaginally, 19 did not require supplemental analgesics and had a delivery pain score of 5 or lower. Blood pressure decreased in three patients after spinal analgesia (p<0.05), which necessitated treatment. The Bromage motor block score was 0 in 26 patients and 1 in 4 patients. Pruritus was noted in 22 patients. Conclusion : Subarachnoid sufentanil-bupivacaine provides rapid analgesia for an effective duration of approximately 130 minutes in parturients in late first stage of labor.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.66-70
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• 2008

Opioid-induced rigidity is a potentially life-threatening complication that can occur after treatment with large doses of opioids, but with early recognition it can be treated effectively with naloxone or with muscle relaxants. Regarding its onset time, there have been few case reports that have described delayed manifestations of opioid-induced rigidity. The mechanism of this complication is not well understood. In this report we describe a case of incidental overdose injection of sufentanil and subsequently review the confusing clinical features that require immediate diffenrentiation and the possible mechanim of this complication.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.200-209
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• 2014

Background: Spinal opioid administration is an excellent option to separate the desirable analgesic effects of opioids from their expected dose-limiting side effects to improve postoperative analgesia. Therefore, physicians must better identify either specific opioids or adequate doses and routes of administration that result in a mainly spinal site of action rather than a cerebral analgesic one. Methods: The purpose of this topical review is to describe current available clinical evidence to determine what opioids reach high enough concentrations to produce spinally selective analgesia when given by epidural or intrathecal routes and also to make recommendations regarding their rational and safety use for the best management of postoperative pain. To this end, a search of Medline/Embase was conducted to identify all articles published up to December 2013 on this topic. Results: Recent advances in spinal opioid bioavailability, based on both animals and humans trials support the theory that spinal opioid bioavailability is inversely proportional to the drug lipid solubility, which is higher in hydrophilic opioids like morphine, diamorphine and hydromorphone than lipophilic ones like alfentanil, fentanyl and sufentanil. Conclusions: Results obtained from meta-analyses of RTCs is considered to be the 'highest' level and support their use. However, it's a fact that meta-analyses based on studies about treatment of postoperative pain should explore clinical surgery heterogeneity to improve patient's outcome. This observation forces physicians to use of a specific procedure surgical-based practical guideline. A vigilance protocol is also needed to achieve a good postoperative analgesia in terms of efficacy and security.